1. The facility

Yara's plant in Sluiskil, Zeeland, the Netherlands, officially opened its carbon capture facility on 7 September 2026. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre attended.[1][3] In its October newsletter, the European Commission's DG Climate Action called it Europe's largest commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility.[2]

Sluiskil is Europe's largest ammonia and fertiliser plant. Ammonia production releases a highly concentrated CO₂ stream, which is easier to capture than CO₂ in ordinary flue gas, so fertiliser plants are often among the first CCS sites. The facility can capture and liquefy up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year and is expected to capture and store about 12 million tonnes over 15 years. The Norwegian government puts this at about 0.5% of Dutch annual emissions.[1][3]

On-site liquid CO₂ tanks and ship loading
On-site liquid CO₂ tanks and ship loading (AI-generated illustration)

2. How the CO₂ reaches Norway

The project runs capture, transport and storage across two countries in four steps:[1][4][5]

  1. Capture and liquefaction: CO₂ from ammonia production is collected at Sluiskil, then compressed and cooled into liquid.
  2. Temporary storage: the liquid CO₂ is held in seven tanks on site and loaded onto Northern Lights carriers twice a week.
  3. Shipping: the carriers take the CO₂ to the receiving terminal at Øygarden on Norway's west coast.
  4. Storage: the CO₂ goes into onshore tanks, then through a subsea pipeline of about 100 km into a saline aquifer about 2,600 m below the seabed.

Northern Lights is a joint venture of Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies and forms the transport and storage part of Longship, the Norwegian government's full-scale CCS project. The Sluiskil CO₂ is Longship's first international delivery.[3][5] Phase one of Northern Lights handles 1.5 million tonnes a year and is fully booked. Phase two, approved in 2025, will raise capacity to at least 5 million tonnes a year and has received €131 million from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility for Energy.[5]

A carrier takes CO₂ to the receiving terminal on Norway's west coast
A carrier takes CO₂ to the receiving terminal on Norway's west coast (AI-generated illustration)

3. Why the company invests

Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), plants surrender one allowance for each tonne of CO₂ emitted. Yara says CO₂ sent for permanent storage avoids this carbon cost.[1] For industries with large process emissions that need capture, the carbon price provides a financial reason to invest.

CO₂ is piped into a saline aquifer about 2,600 m below the seabed
CO₂ is piped into a saline aquifer about 2,600 m below the seabed (AI-generated illustration)

4. Directions Taiwan can consider

Taiwan's petrochemical, steel and cement plants are mostly in coastal industrial zones and, like Sluiskil, have access to shipping. The case offers several reference points:

  • Start with concentrated sources: processes such as ammonia, hydrogen and ethylene oxide produce concentrated CO₂ that is cheaper to capture, making them suitable first demonstrations.
  • Use shipping to link sites: when emitters and storage sites are far apart, liquefied CO₂ can be shipped first, with pipelines built later as demand grows.
  • Share transport and storage: Northern Lights takes CO₂ from several companies as a third-party service, spreading infrastructure costs.
  • Combine carbon pricing with public support: companies invest to avoid carbon costs, while governments and the EU support transport and storage infrastructure. Taiwan's carbon fee and future trading system can draw on this division of roles.

ccs.tw has also covered Germany's push for cross-border CO₂ storage and EU funding for pre-commercial CCS testing. For Taiwan's carbon pricing, see the carbon fee and ETS dual track.

References

  1. Yara International, Europe's largest carbon capture facility officially inaugurated at Yara Sluiskil in the Netherlands (2026-09-07). https://www.yara.com/corporate-releases/europes-largest-carbon-capture-facility-officially-inaugurated-at-yara-sluiskil-in-the-netherlands/
  2. European Commission DG CLIMA, EU Climate Action newsletter, September 2026 edition (2026-10-06).
  3. Government of Norway, Prime Minister attended opening of world's first cross-border carbon capture project (2026-09-07). https://www.regjeringen.no/en/whats-new/prime-minister-attended-opening-of-worlds-first-cross-border-carbon-capture-project/id3172017/
  4. Yara International, Carbon Capture and Storage press kit. https://www.yara.com/news-and-media/media-library/press-kits/carbon-capture-and-storage/
  5. gCaptain, Europe's Largest Carbon Capture Facility Opens, Sending CO2 by Ship to North Sea Storage (2026-09-08). https://gcaptain.com/europes-largest-carbon-capture-facility-opens-sending-co2-by-ship-to-north-sea-storage/